As a redshirt freshman for FSU, Jameis Winston led the Seminoles to the final BCS title and won the Heisman Trophy. As talented as Winston is, he may not be the nation's top talent at the position.

Oregon's Marcus Mariota and Ohio State's Braxton Miller were Heisman frontrunners at points during last season, but both were derailed by minor injuries. Mariota's back to contend with Winston, but Miller is out for the season after suffering a shoulder injury.

It's a long list of elite quarterbacks -- much like it was in 2013 -- for the upcoming season. Baylor's Bryce Petty, UCLA's Brett Hundley and Auburn's Nick Marshall also return to lead some of the nation's top offenses.

We knew entering the 2013 season that the Seminoles had weapons surrounding Winston. The question was — how good was Winston going to be? Spectacular. The redshirt freshman won the Heisman, threw for 4,057 yards, 40 TDs and just 10 picks while completing 66.9 percent of his passes. And clutch? How about going 6 of 7 and driving FSU 80 yards for the game-winning score with 13 ticks left in the BCS title game? He’s No. 1 until someone bumps him from the top.

The rest of the Pac-12 was not happy when Mariota — a likely top-10 pick in May’s NFL Draft — said he was returning for another year in Eugene. The game’s most dynamic quarterback, Mariota ran for 715 yards and nine scores and threw for another 3,665 yards, 31 TDs and only four interceptions. Winston won all his big games; if Mariota can do the same (see: Stanford), he can reach Winston’s level.

Is there anyone who throws a better pass? After Baylor was spoiled with Robert Griffin III and Nick Florence, Petty stepped right in and became a Heisman contender. He completed 62.0 percent of his passes for 4,200 yards, 32 TDs and three interceptions — sitting the fourth quarter of many games — while guiding one of the nation’s most lethal offensive attacks. In 2014, he’ll have all sorts of weapons at his disposal.

Hundley has the potential to be the Pac-12’s top quarterback. Like Mariota, Hundley can run and is an accurate thrower. Hundley is a little more physical, running for 748 yards and 11 scores and passing for 3,071 yards. If there’s a knock on Hundley it’s that he tries to do too much. In the Bruins’ three losses last season, he threw five of his nine interceptions and was sacked 16 times.

The Tigers didn’t know what they had in the former Georgia DB when the season started. By the end of the season, they had the nation’s most devastating ground game. Marshall contributed to that, running for 1,068 yards and 12 scores. He wasn’t called on to pass much — he did have four 200-yard games and a 300-yard one — but will likely be asked to throw it more in 2014 after having a full offseason and spring to work in Gus Malzahn’s system. He has plenty of talented receivers, including the top JUCO receiver in ’13, to ease the process.

Hill proved that he can win games for the Cougars in 2013 — and that he can keep then in games against bigger (and probably better) opponents. To take the next step, Hill has to get better passing the ball. In BYU’s five losses last year, he completed just 45.0 percent of his passes with four TDs and five interceptions. Still, he had 2,938 passing yards and a team-best 1,344 on the ground (19th-best in the country and third among quarterbacks).

Kelly wrapped up 2013 on a downer, having two of his least productive outings in the Sun Devils’ final two games. But don’t let that fool you, he’s a veteran, a leader, a competitor and the key to ASU’s success in ’14. He has one of the game’s best receivers in Jaelen Strong and has the ability to tuck the ball under and run when he needs to (608 yards, nine scores).

The freshman arrived on campus with big fanfare. He was going to be the quarterback to lead Penn State back to college football elite status in the wake of the NCAA penalties handed down from the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Hackenberg didn’t disappoint. He saved his best game for last, beating Wisconsin on the road with a 339-yard, 4-TD, zero interception performance. He has future NFL QB written all over him.

Entering the Sugar Bowl matchup against Alabama, Knight barely had completed 50 percent of his passes in six games for 471 yards, five TDs and four picks. Then Knight turned in a game for the ages. Against Nick Saban’s defense, he completed 32 of 44 passes, picking apart the Tide defense for 348 yards, four TDs and an interception. Needless to say, Sooner fans are excited about the future. Blake Bell — The Belldozer — has moved to tight end, so Knight won’t be looking over his shoulder if he has a below-average game.

Hogan — much like the Cardinal football team — is not flashy. But he’s efficient. He threw for 2,630 yards, 20 TDs and 10 interceptions last season. He also ran for 355 yards. The big question for Hogan in 2014 is can he be more than a game manager for David Shaw’s squad? He has a dynamic playmaker in Ty Montgomery to throw to, but bullish RB Tyler Gaffney is gone, providing an opportunity for Hogan to do more this season.

The most exciting player in college football? Don’t skip past Huntington, W.Va., because you might miss him. Cato is a yardage machine. He has 10,176 passing yards entering his final season. He added the run to his repertoire last season as well, gaining 294 yards (with six TDs) after managing just 63 total yards his two previous seasons. He owns nine 300-yard career passing games and four 400 yard ones. Last season, he totaled 39 passing TDs with nine interceptions.

At times in 2013, Gardner looked like a Heisman winner (503 passing yards, two TDs, 81 rushing yards and three TDs vs. Indiana) and other games (98 passing yards, 12 rushing yards in loss to Iowa), Gardner and the Michigan offense looked lost. Will the real No. 98 show up every week in 2014? To fight their way back among the best of the Big Ten, the Wolverines need Gardner at his best.

In his first two seasons, Mannion was solid. He threw for a lot of yards (5,774) but his 31-31 TD-to-interception ratio left something to be desired. Then last season, Mannion completed a career-best 66.3 percent of his throws for 4,662 yards, 37 TDs and 15 interceptions. That’s good. Real good. It helped having a talent like Brandin Cooks at receiver — and Cooks is gone now — but Mannion looks like he’s gotten over the hump of solid, but not great. With 10,436 career passing yards (ranking him 69th all-time), another season like last one could vault him into the top 5 when he leaves Corvallis.

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Dak Prescott, Mississippi State

He’s not as tall as Cam Newton, but Prescott might be the closest thing to the former Auburn star and Heisman winner that you’ll see in the SEC. He’s not a polished passer — he completed 58.4 percent of his throws last season with 10 TDs and seven interceptions — but his ability to make plays with his feet will help the Bulldogs’ passing game. He ran for 829 yards and 13 TDs, including 133 vs. Auburn, 103 vs. LSU and 154 against Texas A&M.

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Bo Wallace, Ole Miss

The big, talented QB has put up the numbers: 6,340 passing yards, 40 TDs, 745 rushing yards, 14 TDs, in his two seasons running the Rebels. The next step is eliminating the occasional poor decision-making and elevating Ole Miss to a contender in the SEC West. Wallace threw 10 interceptions last season and seven of those came in losses. With a year throwing to Laquon Treadwell under his belt, will this be the season Wallace puts it all together?

Washington State’s biggest challenge in 2014 might be having enough ice for Halliday’s right shoulder. He led the nation with 714 pass attempts last season — 55 more than the next QB — and totaled 4,597 yards, 34 TDs and 22 interceptions. He set an NCAA record with 89 attempts (58 completions) for 557 yards in a loss last season to Oregon. Coach Mike Leach will keep throwing it this season and the Cougars will continue being a thorn in several teams’ sides.

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Cody Kessler, USC

Kessler’s job of replacing Matt Barkley wasn’t going to be an easy one. Then, with Marqise Lee, one of the nation’s top receivers, hobbled much of the season, it didn’t get any easier. But Kessler persevered and threw for 2,967 yards, 20 TDs and seven interceptions. His performance was good enough to run off backup Max Wittek. Kessler won’t have Lee in 2014, but look for Nelson Agholor to improve on his breakout season a year ago.

It’s never a bad thing when your new starting quarterback has already completed 222 passes for 2,897 yards and 22 TDs at your school. That’s what the Cowboys have in Walsh. The downside is that he wasn’t able to keep the starting job last season — Oklahoma State turned to Clint Chelf. Still, Walsh’s ability is there. He can sling it around and run, too. He has 584 rushing yards and 10 TDs in two season.

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Jake Waters, Kansas State

Bill Snyder would have preferred fewer than five losses, but there’s no shame in losing to Texas, Oklahoma State, Baylor and Oklahoma — as the Wildcats did in Waters’ first season as starting QB. But the North Dakota State loss to kick off the season was not the way KSU wanted the season to begin. But Waters recovered, threw for 2,469 yards and 18 TDs and, more importantly, formed one of the nation’s top QB-WR duos in the nation with Tyler Lockett. They’ll get to test that 1-2 punch in Week 3 against SEC champion Auburn, in Manhattan.

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Connor Cook, Michigan State

Steady all season in 2013, Cook emerged as a bona fide playmaking quarterback when it mattered most. He threw three TD passes in the Big Ten title game, including the go-ahead pass to Josiah Price, to beat Ohio State (and keep the Buckeyes from playing for the BCS title) and then threw for 332 yards and two TDs (including another game-winner) against Stanford in the Rose Bowl. How’s that for momentum? If he plays like that and the Spartans play defense the way they do, look at Big Ten.

By now you know Golson’s story. Came out of nowhere to lead the Fighting Irish to the BCS title game in 2012 against Alabama, was kicked out of school for an academic issue and missed the 2013 season, and now he’s back in South Bend. Golson’s talent is obvious. He threw for 2,405 yards with 12 TDs his first and only year as a starter. Brian Kelly is ready to give Golson another shot at leading the Irish.

It’s no coincidence that the greatest season in Duke football history coincided with Boone’s emergence at quarterback. He threw for 2,260 yards, completed 64.0 percent of his passes and stayed fresh with David Cutcliffe inserting Brandon Connette for a change of pace. Blue Devil fans loved that Boone picked up where Sean Renfree left off in 2012 by leading Duke past rival UNC. He nearly led Duke to an upset of Johnny Manziel-led Texas A&M in the Chick-fil-A Bowl with a 427-yard passing performance.

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Shane Carden, East Carolina

Carden has the ability to put up not just big numbers in 2014, but huge numbers. He threw for 4,139 yards (seventh nationally) last season and 33 TDs. His 70.5 completion percentage was third in the country. Why could 2014 be better? Because he still has Justin Hardy to throw to -- the two hooked up for 1,284 yards and eight scores last season. Plus, Carden gets some big Power 5 opponents early in the season to prove his worth.

With Bryn Renner injured, Williams was thrown to the fire and performed well in 2013. He threw for 1,698 yards, 15 TDs and six interceptions and gave the Tar Heels a new dimension on offense as he ran for 536 yards and six scores. He led UNC to wins in five of its final six games — he took over when Brenner was hurt vs. N.C. State.

Ever since Keeton’s first start as a freshman in 2011 on the road against Auburn, it was obvious he was special. He nearly led the Aggies to the upset that day and has been giving opponents headaches since. He tore his ACL last season and is expected back in June. Will he be ready for the season opener Aug. 30 at Tennessee? We’ll know more as his progress is monitored. Prior to his injury, he completed 69.4 percent of his passes for 1,388 yards, 18 TDs and just two interceptions. He also had 241 rushing yards and two scores. Utah State is already a program to be reckoned with, with Keeton behind center, the Aggies can be downright scary.